Construction and conning equipment for submersible boats.



L. Y. SPEAR & H. B. GRIESHABER. CONSTRUCTION AND comma EQUIPMENT FOR SUBMERSIBLE BOATS.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 27, 1911;

Patented Sept. 2, 1913.

44m 4 ATTORNEYS.

a? INVENTORS. 5W1, BY

L. Y. SPEAR & H. E. GRIESHABBR. CONSTRUCTIOR AND 00111111101 EQUIPMENT r011 SUBMERSIBLE BOATS.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 21, 1911. Patented Sept. 2 1913.

8 BHEBTS-BHBET 2.

WITNESSES:-

L. Y. SPEAK & H. E. GRIESHABER. CONSTRUCTION AND CONNINt' EQUIPMENT FOR SUBMERSIBLE BOATS.

APPLIUALION FILED JULY 2'7, 1911 1,072,392, Patented Sept.2,1913

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

.a flat top of considerable extent U E ii "GOM$TEU CTIONHAINID CONNING "EQUIFBMENT EOIVbUBMEBSIBLEIBOATS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

latent e d Sept. 2,:1 91 3.

Application filed July 27,1911. Serial No. 640,772.

To all whom it may concern ,Beit known that waist-wanes Y. Scour andHUoo E.-GRIESHABER, both citizens of the United States, residing at New London, county of New London, State ot' tlonnectlcut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Constructionand (lonning Equipment for SubmersibleBoats; and we do hereby declare the following to bma t'ull,

clear. and exact description of the inven tion, such as will enable otl'iersskilled in the art to which it appertains to make-and use the same.

.The invention relates to the construction and arrangement of the upper midship section and the navigating equipment of a submersible vessel. such as a submersible torpedo boat.

In a companion application, Serial No. (342,487, filed August 5, 1911., we have dis closed a submarine vessel having at theinid ship section an upstanding housing having which serves as a navigating bridge, the housing being so shaped as to constitute a fairwater, and inolosing an observation tower, Periscope tubes, and ventilators, as well as a hatch trunk extending from the main hatch to the bridge. The submersible boat disclosed in that application has a navigating station on the bridge for use when the vessel is running .on the surface, and a second navigating station equipped with a navigators periscope, wvithin the hull of the vessel, and an'observation tower serving primarily as.a trimming station.

The present .application relates to a submersible vessel preferably having substantially the same upstanding housing and elevated navigating bridge, but it has .a conning tower large enough to accommodate two or more men, and constituting a navigation. station when submerged. This conning tower is equipped with a navigators perlscope, speaking tubes, and other adjuncts necessaryfor the navigation of the vessel, including a steering station, and engine room telegraph and torpedofiring devices if desired.

The invention further contemplates inrrovements in structural details, which will e fully understood 'from a consideration of the following description of a preferred embodiment of the invention.

In the drawings, F igure 1 1s a vertical central longltudinal section of the upper midship port-ion of the boatpFig. 2 is a Ht.('ll()ll on the hue 2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a section on the line fil of Fig. 1; and Fig.

l is a plan view ol the parts shown in Figs. 1 and E2.

As is customary in vessels of this type, the vessel shown has a strong hull A con structed to withstand the ressure of deep submergeuce. which has a siuierstructure B running the length thereof with a llat top constituting the main deck of the vessel. Built into the strong hull and constituting an upward projection therefrom, and itself so constructed as to withstand the pressure of deep sulnnergence, is the conning tower which constitutes a navigating station when submerged. and may be equipped with torpedo tiring devices, and is of sutlicient capacity to zn-eomnnnlate at least two men. This conning tower has at the base a contracted opening into the interior of the vessel, which opening is provided with a waterexcluding closure 0.- 'whereby it may, if de sired, be shut oil from the interior of the vessel. Rising from the top of the conning tower, at one end thereof, isan observation hood (I containing observation port-holes, through which one of the otlicers in the connin'g tower may make observations. This hood. is particularly useful in the operation of trimming the vessel. The hood also constitutesa cover for the conning tower hatch, and for that purpose is provided with a hinge connection to the top of the tower,

levels, these platforms being hinged to the 9 side of the tower so that they may be thrown up or down. The upper one, 0, serves for the ofliccr to stand on when he is using the observation hood, and the other, 0 when he is assisting as second oflicer in the navi ation of the vessel submerged. At the ot an end of the tower is arranged the navigators periscope D. and beneath it a platform It upon which the navigating oflicer using the periscope stands. The tower is also preferably provided with observation portholes it at a convenient level for use by an ollicer standing on either the.platf0rm It or the platform e, and it is also equipped with navigating adjuncts inclndin compass t, and speaking tubes 8, or to ephones, not shown.

The vessel is provided with an additional periscope E which eictends down-to a sta- 'tion within the hull, which may be equipped with steering gear, torpedo firing control and other adjuncts as is the case with the conning tower station, either station being available at the option of the'comman ding oflicer. This additional periscope is' arrahged at'the extreme after portion of the conning tower, preferably outside of the rounding housings, and the ventilator, are,

built into a single inclosing structure J tapered at its ends to constitute a fairwater.

The conning tower, in the preferred construction is surrounded by an upstanding housing G, of considerable extent, shaped to constitute a fairwater, and of which the flat top forms a-navigating bridge. This housing is open to the sea, and is self-bailing and self-filling, and it is partitioned off just aft of-the conningtower to constitute a hatch trunk H extending from the main hatch to the bridge, the said trunk having a hinged cover m at the top, and the hatch having a cover it equipped with mechanism for locking it in a closedposition. This arrangement of fairwater and batch trunk is, however, disclosed and claimed in our copending application referred to, and constitute no part of the present invention. -On the said bridge is installed a standard 0 carrying an electrical controller for steering mechanism, and preferably also an engine room telegraph, so that the vessel may be navigated from this bridge. WVithin the housing are also included the forward and aft ventilators N and M, and these ventilators should be equipped with water-excluding valves as is the ventilator F.

It will be understood from the foregoing description that when the've'ssel is running on the surface it may be navigated from the elevated navigating bridge; which it is to be submerged, the observation hood d may be used during the trimming opera tion; and after submergence the vessel is steering on a range when submerged or for. laying the boat upon a target.

That we claim is :j 1. A. connlng tower for submersible vessels having at one end a periscope and at the other'end an observation hood, a platform beneath the periscope, and two platforms arranged one above the other beneath the observation hood, the upper platform being so supported that it may be moved from above the lower platform and. being at such a level that a man standing on it can make observations through the observation hood.

2. In a submersible vessel, .a conning tower having a periscope at one end thereof, an additional periscope extending down within the hull of the vessel at the same end of the conning tower, and a fairwaternon top of the conning tower about the two periscopes. I

3. In a submersible vessel, the combination with a hull and conning tower thereon of a periscope tube leading from said hull, a second periscope tube leading from said conning tower and a casing inclosing and combined with said periscope tubes to form a single projecting structure above said conningtower.

4. In asubmersible vessel, the combination with a hull and a conning tower thereon of a periscope tube leading from said hull, a second periscope tube leading from said conning tower, a. ventilator leading from said conning tower and a casing inclosing and combined with said .periscope tubes and said vent-ilator to form a single projecting structure above said conning tower.

LAWRENCEY. SPEAK. HUGO E. GRIESHABER.

Witnesses:

F, L. BRAKE, C. H. BEDELL. 

